Archive for the ‘Personal’ Category

October has become known as “Domestic Violence Awareness Month”, and this year, Nicol Photography is working as a liaison to this cause. With our studio being based in a city that has seen two tragedies of domestic violence within the past three months, this is a month in which we believe our community could more than stand a little positive attention. With that realization, we chose to create a positive studio event where women could help other women and we could, in turn, do our part to raise awareness for something that countless individuals have been (and sadly, will continue to be) affected by.

Nicol Photography is sponsoring the Domestic Violence Awareness Event in our studio on October 30, 2011. The studio is located at 308 E. Main St., Alliance, Ohio. This event will be running from 1:00PM – 5:00PM,, and is open to any and all women who are interested in raising awareness for this cause. We will have a varied array of female-operated businesses, providing their products for raffle, as well as giving guests a chance to purchase, book parties, and learn more about the product lines.

Raffles will take place throughout the day. Our vendors will be providing raffles for products from their businesses, and there will we a large raffle basket, including items from each vendor as well as items from several outside vendors who have chosen to donate. The tickets can be easily earned, with the ladies who attend bringing in donations. For every five items that are donated, we will give out two tickets. These tickets can be used on individual items, as well as on the big prize..

At this time, vendors include: Mary Kay, Tastefully Simple, Miche Bags, Cookie Lee, Scentsy, Tupperware, Pampered Chef, Thirty-One Gifts, Dove Chocolate Discoveries, Silk Flower Arrangements, Wine Shop at Home, Avon, and Pure Romance. We will have one representative from each business, who will present for 15-20 minutes. Some vendor companies have been known as advocates in the area of Domestic Violence for quite some time, and these ladies are doing the best that they can to assist in the fight against Domestic Violence.

We will also be holding a 50/50 drawing during this event. Tickets for the 50/50 will be $2.00 per ticket, or five (5) tickets for $8.00. The winner will receive half of the proceeds, with the other half being donated towards Domestic Violence.

Physical donations that can be taken are: lightly worn clothing, toiletries, beauty care items, reading materials, non-perishable food items, and small hobby items. All physical donations will be distributed between the Alliance Area and Canton Area Domestic Violence Centers. All monetary donations will be distributed to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. Through doing this, we are able to assist on both a local and a national level, allowing us to assist even more women.

-For any additional questions you may have about this event, please contact Nicol Photography at 330-821-7714, or by email at photo@nicolphoto.com. We will be more than happy to assist you in any way that we can, and to do our best to help you make a difference.

We at Nicol Photography sincerely hope to see a large turnout, in support of those who have been affected by Domestic Violence. If there is anything that the community of Alliance understands, it’s that tragedy can sometimes come when you least expect it. We hope that in reaching out to neighboring areas, we can alter the devastating course of action that many women may face, and to raise awareness of what Domestic Violence is and what it does to people. Just because domestic violence happens doesn’t mean it’s okay.

Last week we attended a benefit dinner in support of Lindsay Kieffer. She was recently diagnosed with stage 4 cancer, underwent chemo treatment for several weeks. Friends and family members joined forces and came up with a benefit dinner to help the family with some of the upcoming bills.

To date they raised over $55,000 through auctions, raffles, 50/50 drawing. The winner of the 50/50 drawing donated 1/2 of her winnings back to Lindsay – so it was really a 75/25 drawing. During this 50/50 drawing, several ladies and plenty of firemen said they would get their head shaved if certain goals were reached. Lots of hair was removed that night, but everyone took it well and everyone came prepared with caps, hats of scarves to cover up in the cold weather.

We were there because we photograph the children of one of the “bald by the end of the night” ladies – Sarah. In the group picture she is the one to the far right – sporting a scarve.

Ladies – it took a lot of guts to have your air removed, but you did it for such a great cause.

To Lindsay and her family – we are praying for you, and wish you a speedy recovery from this illness.

To hear from Lindsay and her sister and close friends check out the story online at FOX8 News. Click here

Congratulations to Mr. & Mrs. Brunner on their 60th Wedding Anniversary. It’s so nice to see a couple enjoy so many years together, and to see their family grow.

I was honored when they asked me to photograph their family group the day after Thanksgiving. Here are several portraits that were captured.

Family Portrait

Watch out – if you do something funny, and show us that you are having fun during your family portrait session – we will capture it and then post it on our blog. These are the moments that it make it so much fun to photograph families that are so close like the Brunners. Thank you for making your family portraits so enjoyable.

Meet John.

Through several years of scouting, many camp outings, a couple of merit badges (I think he is currently at 27 and counting) and through the support of family and friends, this young man was able to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout.

Being part of a Scout troop, as a committee member, gives one some perspective on how important some of these programs can be for young men. This young gentleman is a fine example of what one can accomplish when set your sight on a goal.

Congratulations John – you earned it.

It’s the Stark County Fair week – and we have a booth set up to display our portraits and to answer any questions that you may have about any type of photography.

Stop by our booth and purchase a gift certificate, and we will double the amount right on the spot. It’s like magic, except we tell the computer what to do.

Take a look at another special that we have going on. If you are a senior, need a family session or have some kiddos that need their school portraits done, we can help.

Both of these specials are good for the week of the Fair. August 30-September 6, 2010.

If you cannot make it to the Fair, then give us a call at our studio. Don’t worry if we do not answer our phones. Leave us a message and we will get back to you after the Fair is over, and we will honor this special – but you must call and leave us your information for us to call you back. OR you can send us an email and we will get back to you ASAP. Click Here for our contact form.

Our local chamber of commerce had their annual golf outing. In attendance were some of the top businessmen from Alliance and some surrounding areas, plus the president of the local college was out to have some golf time as well.

This year the winners were the Mount Union College team.

Nicole and I were there to capture the groups that played as well as some action shots so that they could be used in the chamber’s newsletter.

After one of the final pictures that we took, Nicole took off with the Golf Car and I tried to catch up. I understand why golf cars are used, it’s a little bit of a walk from the back of the course to the club house.

So the grand kids, except for one, were all at my parents’ house and they decided to bring them out to the local amusement park. This park has been open for quite some time and it keeps adding more and more rides every year. Its great for a quick time out and for the kids to have some fun.

The kids went on the roll coaster ride, bumper boats (with skirt guns – trying to get the parents wet), the water slides, bumper cars, go cars and finally a round of miniature golf. Everyone had a fun time, and then it was back to the house for some food.

Every year for the past 20+ years, Halifax has had a Busker Festival. This festival shows off the talents of “street performers” and attracts many tourists as well as locals to the capital city of Nova Scotia. Over the 10 days which the festival is held, there will be well over 500 performances from various performers.

We had a chance to stop by and look at such a performer, and I was asked to help out. Well, it was much more then that – I was used as a ladder to help the guy get to the top of a pole where he was going to juggle a sword, flaming torch and an apple – while eating the apple. Plus this was goin g to be on top of a bike.  This guy was OK, not great – but OK. He juggled a chainsaw that had no “teeth” on the blade, I think that’s called cheating. All I cared about, since I was in the show, was that he was well balanced and did not weight that much when he jumped on my shoulders.

While visiting Nova Scotia, we had a family picture request to be taken at Peggy’s Cove. This area is a famous Tourist Trap in Nova Scotia and offers some nice views looking out to sea, looking through the fishing village, or just to look at the lighthouse that sits on exposed bedrock.

This was a great idea, as it is not too often seen as a place to take Professional Family Portraits. Sure many families get a snapshot of themselves near the lighthouse – but I wanted to take it one step further. So I brought some of my portable flashes with me. Below are the portraits that I captured, plus some images that I captured without the flashes, but with the use of a tripod.

While we were in Nova Scotia, we made time to visit one of Nicole’s relatives that has seen a little bit more in her life then we have.  Mildred turned 100 last year, and had all of her family there to celebrate such a milestone in one’s life. She lived through both World Wars, and has seen so many advances in technology and other areas that has become a common part of our lifes. She lived in Halifax for most of her life, and only sold her house about 3 years ago to live with her daughter and son-in-law in Guysborough.